Lucas: New Jersey(s)

The Tar
Heels are usually associated with traditional jerseys--other than the one-year
interlocking-NC experiment for the 1999-2000 season, the current Alexander
Julian argyle has undergone only minor modifications since it debuted in the
1991-92 season.

But during
the Roy Williams era, the Tar Heels have shown a willingness to be flexible
with their jersey choices, wearing several one-time-only uniforms over the past
decade. They include:

Feb. 16,
2005: Carolina joined with Virginia for a Throwback Night, with both squads
wearing jerseys modeled on the respective programs' 1980s style. For the Tar
Heels, although the replica wasn't exactly the same--the font and spacing on the
front wasn't an exact copy of the style worn by the program in the heart of the
Dean Smith era--it was fun to see the familiar Tar Heel foot return to the side
of the shorts, if only for one day.

Even some
of the peripheral personnel got into the act, as radio analyst Eric Montross
wore Chuck Taylor sneakers to call the game.

Outcome:
Carolina won, 85-61.

Nov. 29, 2005: Credit to alert reader Steve Bass for pointing this one out. The Tar Heels wore silver-shouldered jerseys against Illinois in the 2005 ACC-Big Ten Challenge game at the Smith Center.

This particular jersey marked the beginning of Nike branding certain college hoops programs as their "Elite" schools, and several other programs wore identical the identical silver-shouldered look in the ACC-Big Ten matchups. The Illini also wore the silver shoulders in this game, meaning both teams were wearing one-time-only shirts.

Outcome: Carolina lost, 68-64.

November 9,
2009: To celebrate the kickoff of the 100 Years of Carolina Basketball
celebration, the Tar Heels wore 1957 throwback jerseys in the season opener.
The most unique aspect of the jerseys was the red trim, which sparked some
controversy among the Tar Heel fan base.

Although
the red seemed unusual 50 years later, it had been specifically requested by
Tar Heel head coach Frank McGuire in the mid-1950s. The fashion-conscious coach
thought the red trim added a bit of flair to Carolina's otherwise staid
uniforms.

Players and
coaches liked the uniforms; they also wore them in a Dec. 28 win over Rutgers
and the NIT opening victory over William & Mary at Carmichael on March 16,
2010.

Outcome:
Carolina won, 88-72.

Feb. 24,
2010: Jordan Brand produced special silver jerseys to commemorate the brand's
25th anniversary. Considering that the company was founded based on
the exploits of the most famous Tar Heel ever, Carolina was a natural to wear
the jerseys, which they did in a home game against Florida State.

Fellow
Jordan Brand schools Georgetown and Cal were the other programs that wore the
one-time jerseys.

Outcome:
Carolina lost, 77-67.

Nov. 11,
2011: The Tar
Heels wore camouflage jerseys as part of the Carrier Classic on the USS Carl
Vinson against Michigan State. Roy Williams, who called the aircraft carrier
game one of the most special moments of his coaching career, specifically
requested that the camo jerseys be produced only for the game and not for
retail. When the game was over, Carolina and Michigan State players took off
the uniforms and gave them to representatives from the Wounded Warriors
Project.

"I even asked, 'Don't make up any more of these,'
because I wanted it to be really special, and then when we had the idea of
giving them [the jerseys] to the Wounded Warriors, we did talk about making one
up for every player so they would get one back themselves," Williams said at
the time.

There was another uniform quirk in the Carrier
Classic--because it got a little chilly once the sun went down, both Reggie
Bullock and P.J. Hairston wore long sleeves under their camo.

Outcome: Carolina won, 67-55.

Feb. 29, 2012: Two years later, the silver returned,
except this time it was "platinum." In the home version of the road jersey that
will be worn at Miami, the Tar Heels wore the Nike Hyper Elite Platinum
uniforms at the Smith Center against Maryland.

The uniforms drew generally positive reviews from the
players, and Tyler Zeller must have liked them--he scored 30 points on his
senior day.